D.W. Avionics v. U.S. Specialty Insurance Company

Omaha, Nebraska insurance law lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a bad faith breach of insurance contract theory.



D S Avionics Unlimited LLC (DSA) had an insurance policy issued by U.S. Specialty Insurance Company (USSIC)

that covered the "direct physical loss” of DSA's aircraft.



1. Summary Judgment: Appeal and Error. An appellate court reviews

the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the

record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and drawing

all reasonable inferences in that party's favor.



2. ____: ____. An appellate court will affirm a lower court's grant of sum -

mary judgment if the pleadings and admitted evidence show that there is

no genuine issue as to any material facts or as to the ultimate inferences

that may be drawn from those facts and that the moving party is entitled

to judgment as a matter of law.



3. Insurance: Contracts: Appeal and Error. The interpretation of an

insurance policy is a question of law, in connection with which an appel -

late court has an obligation to reach its own conclusions independently

of the determination made by the lower court.



4. Insurance: Contracts: Intent. An insurance policy is a contract and is

to be construed as any other contract to give effect to the parties' inten -

tions at the time the contract was made.



5. Insurance: Contracts. In construing insurance policy provisions, a

court must determine from the clear language of the policy whether the

insurer in fact insured against the risk involved.



6. ____: ____. The language of an insurance policy should be read to avoid

ambiguities, if possible, and the language should not be tortured to cre -

ate them.



7. ____: ____. An all perils policy impliedly covers all risks except those

expressly addressed in the policy's exclusion paragraphs.



8. Appeal and Error. An appellate court is not obligated to engage in

The district court for Douglas County, Nebraska, found that DSA’s claim was not covered and ruled in favor of USSIC and against DSA on related matters.



Reversed